Method of photographically producing &#34;ben day&#34; tones



May 8, 1934. MARSH 1,957,970

METHOD OF FHOTOGRAPHICALLY PRODUCING "BEN DAY" TONES Filed Dec. 19, 1932 m"! 123v TOR FAYETTE E. MARSH Patented May 8, 1934 I -1\IE'I.HOD OF PHOTOGRAPHICALLY PRO- DUCING BEN DAY TONES Fayette E. Marsh, Los Angeles, calm, assignor to Chas. V. Price, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application December 19, 1932, Serial No. 647,853 4 Claims. (Cl. 95-5) This invention relates to the art of introducing transparent overlay has been laid and upon which into the camera copy furnished for the producthe artist has painted, in the areas wherein he tion of a line etched printing plate, such as is desires, the tint or tone of Ben Day to appear; manufactured in the art of photo-engraving, a indicating which tone is wanted in a specific area shade or tone of the character commonly known by choice of color used in that area. 50 in the trade as "Ben Day.. Fig. 3 shows the transparent overlay as it would An important object of the invention is to proappear when laid upon a white background after vide an improved and simplified process whereby the desired areas have been painted in with colors an artist may photographically introduce into by the artist.

a reproduction of his sketched copy a shaded .F 4isan sat v n w i d t p t pho 65 background to produce what is known as Ben raphic paper of the original drawing, the black Day effects or other background consisting of nd White ar a of h r in as h wn in Fi 1,

a landscape or similar stock pattern. being reversed.

Another object is to provide an improved and 5 s a c b at up imposement oi the simplified process of introducing color tones into transparent paint d v l y sh wn in Fig. 3 and 70 the printed reproduction 01' an image or drawthe n iv h wn n 4- 1 Figs. 6 and '7 are fragmentary views of the Another object is to provide a ready and variable or interchangeable stencils, or negatives nomical method of applying sketch and had of the pattern calculated to produce the shade or tones or other background combinations on one tone desired.

5 surface, so as to present'to the photo-engraver 3 is DOSitiVe p o ap ic r production 7 the best possible medium for its reproduction the Original drawing wn in ig. 1. together phtgraphica11y with the desired patterns in their respective areas. 7 Another object is .to provide an improved Figs. 9 and l0.are fragmentary views of the 5 method of producing two or more tones on one 00101 filters 80 sketch in any position with relation to one an- Whenever a Shade tone is needed in h m making of a line out, it is producedby applying Another object is to. provide an improved to the zinc plate in the area desired, a pattern method of producing difierent tones on two condots o other hapes spaced appropriately so tiguous areas. that the printed image of the dots when presented 85 Another obje ti to extend and am lify the to the eye, with the intervening white space, will art of shading or toning etched line plates by give the appearance of the desired tone or shade. eil'ectinganumber, relation and character of tone It is important to realize that in the making values heretofore unava11ab1e of line cuts, the engravers camera picks out Another obje t of this invention is t provide only the pure white and black tones of the draw- 90.

for visual examination a photographic proof ing, and as a consequence, reproduces no grada showing the exact appearance of the imprint as tions of light Shadow- The 3911 pat-t it 11 appear when completed and before t has tern, then, by the relation oi black spots and been handed to the photo engraver proof interstices, produces an Optical illusion Of 40' will afford the opportunity for corrections or a gray Shade of Varying intensity, according to 95 changes thereby adding economy to the opera the relative size of the dots and the White tion of producing etched printing plates. space intervening- Another object is to materially reduce the .cost At this time as far as is generally known there oi etched line printing plates with special reare three principal Ways of obtaining the Ben gard for large and involved subjects. y tone: 100 Other objects, advantages and features of the y p a the dot Pattern d y pon the invention will appear from the accompanying zinc plate from which the reproduction is to drawing, the subjoined detail description and the be made; appended claims. 2. By placing the dot pattern directly upon the it The accompanying I drawing illustrates the face of the drawing from which the cut is to be 105 method of using my improved process and how made, so that the pattern will be photographed the desired results may be obtained from its use. together with the lines of the drawing; and

Fig. 1 shows an original drawing upon which 3. By placing a transparent sheet containing the tint or tone is to be produced. the desired pattern over and in fiat contact with I Fig. 2 depictsthe same drawing over which a h drawin and pho o r phing the awin through the transparency together with the 'dot pattern on the transparency itself.

The following is a brief description of some of the more important methods now employed iii-this art:

The original method of printing the dot pattern directly upon the line out just before it is etched, which is still largely employed, is the one known as Ben Day.

The Hutchinsons artist shading film and the Kenway process employ the use of a transparency containing the Ben Day pattern through which the lines of the drawing are photographed as well as the lines of the transparency.

The Hutchinson method covers the whole surface of the transparent sheet with the needed pattern in black ink, necessitating that the user remove from the transparency by scraping any portion of the pattern which he does not desire to appear.

The Kenway method prints the Ben Day pattern over the whole surface of the transparency with an invisible ink, which can be developed to a dark color by the user by flowing a developing liquid over that portion of the surface where he desires the pattern to appear.

Paratone employs the principle of a transfer; that is, the dot pattern, embedded in a thin wax sheet, is transferred from a tissue paper base to that portion of the surface of the drawing where the pattern is needed.

Mistagraph, by a photographic process, places a pattern of invisible dots over the whole-surface of a piece of drawing paper on which the artist must draw his image. This dot pattern is int-1 visible, but when treated with a developing liquid, the dots are made to appear.

My improved method of making camera copy which is to be used in producing a negative from which a line etched printing plate is made, is as follows:

First, I superimpose upon the line drawing or image to be reproduced, such for example, as is illustrated in Fig. 1, a transparent sheet of paper,

celluloid, or similar material. On this transparent sheet, I paint, ink or otherwise fill in those portions covering the local areas on the drawing beneath in which a selected shade or tone is desired, indicating which tone is wanted in a specific area by the choice of color used in that area.

Each color, by prearrangement, has been identified with a specified tone such as red for a high light, blue for a medium light and yellow for a heavy tone. A completed overlay with colors for indicating desired tones is shown associated with the drawing in Fig. 2 and disassociated from the drawing in Fig. 3.

After the tones have been produced on the overlay I separate the completed overlay from the drawing and make a negative of the latter on white direct print paper or film in the same size as the original. This operation reverses the black and,white areas of the original as shown in Fig. 4.

I next place the negative in such a position for exposure with the camera that I may produce a positive reproduction of the size of the drawing desired, and over it I place the overlay shown in Fig. 3 so that the colored areas thereon are in the same relative position to the negative as they were to the orignal drawing when associated with it. This composite arrangement of overlay and negative is shown in Fig. 5.

Next, I prepare by any suitable means, such as printing in opaque ink on transparent celluloid, variable and interchangeable stencils or negatives in patterns calculated to produce any shade or tone desired as shown in Figs. 6 and '7. These stencils operate to produce a shade or tone on the camera film by intercepting part of the light rays passing from the overlay to the camera, thereby enabling the remaining light rays to imprint on the film therein, the pattern of the stencil used. These stencils are designed so as to secure an orderly arrangement of black dotswith white interstices, such as is commonly called a Ben Day' pattern, which, when printed in black and white, creates an optical illusion of the presence of a gray tone.

I then place the stencil selected to provide'the desired tone, i. e., the stencil shown in Fig. 6, over the composite assembly of overlay and negative, as shown in Fig. 5, so that all three are in close contact, whereupon I make a camera exposure using the whole pack or unitized combination together with a selected color filter, i. e., as shown in Fig. 9, known to record on the camera film a given color as though it were white while recording the other colors present upon the overlay asthough they were black. The area photographing as white will produce through the stencil a pattern in black on the film, while those photographing as black which include the other colored areas together with the remaining portions of the negative except the white lines of the image, do not alter the white of the camera film.

The foregoing operation produces the light dot in the drawing, as shown in Fig. 8, and represents the area colored by a blue shade on the overlay.

I then make a second exposure, alternating with the assembly of negative and overlay however, a selected stencil, as shown in Fig. 7 together with a second color filter, i. e., as shown in Fig. 10, as will prod ice the tone corresponding to the indication contained in the color.

The latter operation produces'the heavy dot in the drawing shown in Fig. 8, and represents the area colored by yellow shade on the overlay.

After the first exposure, this will require the removal of the color filter and stencil previously used in the pack and the substitution for it of the second color filter and stencil in different pattern to procure a change in tone.

Several such operations may be repeated all depending upon the colors used on the overlay and the number thereof.

When all the tone areas on the overlay have been transferred to or registered on the camera film together with the stencil in the pattern calculated to produce the desired tone, I remove the last stencil, color filter and the overlay from the pack and make a final exposure using the negative alone. All of the foregoing steps must be made without altering the position of the negative andoverlay with relation to the camera so that the successive exposures will maintain the same camera register on the same film. Corresponding to those areas which were white in the assembly or which possess the same photographic properties as the color white, a pattern in black-on a white background is printed on the white paper film in the camera. The pattern of color, affect the film in the camera and that consequently all areas of the film except those exposed to the photographic white of the overlay, will retain their original white color without modification. Conversely, areas on a pohtographic film which have beenrendered black by exposure to white areas of the photographic copy, will refuse to register any imagesubsequently made photographically visible to the said area since they have been de-sensitized by previous exposure and rendered immune to added light. There is therefore the alternative available in my process, of proceeding directly from the original drawing with the photographic steps herein described without departure from the principles involved by varying only the character of the stencil by reversing its design from negative to positive.

In the first instance, the assembly of drawing and patterns is made on the camera positive, in the second, it is made upon the camera negative.

I'am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details of the invention varied throughout a wide range without departing from the principles thereof within the limits defined by the claims. For example, this would be the case if but one tone or shade were required, eliminating the use of color filter.

I claim:

l. The method herein described of producing a negative on a white support, which consists in providing a surface with a sketch to be shaded or toned, superimposing upon said sketch a transparent overlay, applying on selected areas of said overlay while thus superimposed reflective coloring matters where tones are to subsequently appear on a photo-copy of said sketch, photocopying the original sketch on a white photographic paper, thereby producing a negative, superimposing upon said negative in correct register therewith said overlay on which said colors have been applied, photo-copyingon a sensitized film thru a color filter which corresponds, to a color on the overlay, the composite assembly of said negative and colored overlay together with a stencil in Ben Day pattern, whereby to record on the sensitized film in the camera a tone or shade in the area corresponding to the location of one color on said overlay, removing said stenciland filter from said composite assembly, re

exposing said composite assembly thru a substitute color filter corresponding to another color on the overlay together with a second stencil in Ben Day pattern so as to place a different tone of Ben Day on the sensitized film in the camera to correspond with another color on said overlay, then removing the overlay, stencil, and color filter from the later assembly and re-exposing the negative alone so that the unexposed areas of the negative which were covered by the colors on the overlay may be exposed to the film in the camera.

2. In the art of producing Ben Day tones photographically, the provision of a picture to be toned, superimposing upon said picture a transparent overlay, applying on selected areas of said overlay while thus superimposed, various reflective coloring matters where Ben Day tones are subsequently to appear on a photo-copy of said picture, making a negative of the original picture on a white photographic paper, assembling said negative and overlay in registered superimposement, placing over said assembly a stencil in Ben Day pattern together with a color filter corresponding to or identified with a particular color on the overlay,-photographing the latter assembly on a sensitized film, removing said stencil and filter from the assembly, replacing for the removed parts a second stencil in Ben Day pattern together with a second color filter corresponding to or identified with another particular color on the overlay, photographing the second assembly on the same picture outline of the same film, removing the second said stencil and color filter from the assembly and then exposing the negative alone upon the same picture outline of the same film. y

3. The method of producing camera copy with Ben Day tones which consists in placing an overlay upon a surface containing an image to be shaded, painting on said overlay while so placed, various reflective coloring matters in predetermined areas in which tone 'shadings are desired on a camera copy of said image, separat ing said overlay from said image and making a negative of the latter on a white photographic paper, combining said negative and said overlay in register with each other, superimposing a stencil in Ben Day pattern upon said overlay and negative, thereby making a composite assembly of negative, overlay and stencil and exposing said composite assembly thru a color filter corresponding to a color on the overlay to a sensitized film and then making a double exposure of the film using the negative alone.

4. The art of producing Ben Day tones photographically, which consists in providing a surface with a sketch to be toned, superimposing upon said sketch a transparent overlay, applying upon selected areas of. said overlay while thus superimposed various reflective coloring matters where Ben Day tones are to subsequently appear on a photo-copy of said sketch, making a negative of the original sketch on a white photographic paper, assembling said negative and overlay in registered superimposement, placing upon 

